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Topic: INHERENT VICE (No Major Spoilers) (Read 190201 times)

it's from 57, directed by alexander mackendrick, based on ernest lehman's writing, and stars a variety of people who are pretty cynical but not very criminal characters. it's about city and business, not film noir material

It was also through his father that Downey became close with Paul Thomas Anderson: "He was actually friends with my pop first. And then finally the three of us got together for a meal, and then we kind of branched off. P.T. and I like ribbing each other. He goes, 'How does it feel to be the shortest superstar in the world?' And I say, 'It's amazing. And who tagged on that other act in the movie after Joaquin drove off on the motorcycle? Because the movie ended there, right?' He just laughs. We live to rib each other, because he is as far on one side of the scale as I am to the other, presently, in people's perception, and yet we could finish each other's sentences all day." They discussed the possibility that Downey might be in Anderson's next movie, an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, and Downey says that he was into it but that Anderson ultimately wanted to make the movie with Joaquin Phoenix. "I think he told me I'm too old," says Downey, amused. "Which I love when people tell me."

You know, because of my Radiohead bias, I'd love to see Jonny back on board again. He could do his paranoid, shifty jazz thing and chuck in some wah and fuzz drenched surf guitar riffs. Or whatever, it'll be good.

Lately we've been inundated with requests to find out what exactly is going on with Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's "Inherent Vice." The project -- which was first announced back in 2010 -- centers on a pothead private eye named Doc Sportello and his hazy adventures in late 60's Los Angeles. PTA had supposedly been interested in Robert Downey Jr. for the lead but ultimately decided to reunite with his "The Master" star Joaquin Phoenix instead and those who have seen the actor lately know that he's certainly been looking the part these days. But other than Phoenix's impressive sideburns, we had no real indication as to whether the film was still on track for the "late April/early May" dates pegged by producer JoAnne Sellar during our interview earlier this year. Since production has been so quiet recently we decided to do a little digging and have some great news to share with you all. What have we learned so far? Read on.

Warner Bros. Will Be Financing The FilmA few weeks ago The Wrap reporter Jeff Sneider caused a minor stir online when he tweeted that contrary to reports, Annapurna Pictures -- who were the saviors of "The Master" -- were not involved with 'Vice.' Well, this turns out to be completely true as a source close to production has revealed to us that "Inherent Vice" will be financed by Warner Bros. This will mark PTA's first time working with the studio (though they absorbed New Line who produced "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia"). Our source also told us things were "completely amicable" between Annapurna and PTA and both parties hope to work together again in the future.

Shooting Will Begin This Month With financing in place, shooting is indeed scheduled to start this month. Though we imagine most of the major roles have been locked down but not announced at this point, we have learned that PTA is still meeting with actors for some of the smaller roles. As with "The Master" cast, expect a flood of announcements to come just prior to shooting. We hear the script is "amazing" so it should have no problem attracting talent.

Robert Elswit Will Return As CinematographerThis one is may seem obvious (and we speculated that this would likely be the case) but we can now confirm that cinematographer Robert Elswit -- who shot all of Paul's films except for "The Master" and picked up an Oscar for his work on "There Will Be Blood" -- will return to shoot "Inherent Vice." For those curious, "Inherent Vice" will shoot on 35mm film. (No digital, no 70mm.)

So the film is financed and will begin shooting in the next few weeks. Is there any better news than that? We certainly can't think of any. Stay tuned for much more very soon. And if you're involved with the production, why don't you drop us a line?

It's a good read but hardly a masterpiece. I think PTA will have to cut a fair bit but he'll most definitely make it shine.If you're looking for something relaxing/fun/mysterious and don't have any other pressing stuff to read, go ahead.If you don't like big, twisty mysteries being spoiled...well, obviously avoid it. Cloudy makes a good point too.

I also haven't read Oil!, but mostly because it seems like it's not that great of a book as much as it is about an interesting subject.

On the other hand, I love these types of pulpy novels which Inherent Vice seems to be, but PTA is one of the few guys whose movies are real events to me, and going into it knowing as little as possible about the plot seems to be the way to go, if only because there is nothing standing between me and the movie when I watch it for the first time. I'm not sure I want to watch it and have the book on the back of my head and start comparing both. I think I've just decided, while writing this, that I'm going to go to the theatre as a virgin.

i think this time it's perfectly fine to read the book. with Oil i don't think PTA actually gave a shit about the actual story of that snoozefest. this time it looks like he's really invested in the book and he has reverence for the author. i want to read it cos all i've ever heard is that it's MINOR pynchon. so why make a movie about it?

i think PT wanted to do a detective story on one level (for the reason listed in the primer) but he jumped on the chance to also explore an even bigger mystery that is Pynchon himself. what's there to talk about so much that they've been meeting all these times? they're not just talking about the book. PTA set out to make friends with one of the most elusive authors of our time. he always seems to set himself this kind of challenge.. observe:

he wrote Frank TJ Mackey for Cruise. he stalked him out, of all the actors we've heard about in that film, the most intestesting pre production bit that we never got to see in the making of doco was when he went to the set of freaking EWS to talk to Cruise.. was mark rance there? he must've at least tried. but they don't even mention it! of all the preproduction madness from script writing to rehearsal to shooting post production and everything else he covered in That Moment, that has to be the most juicy bit in the legend that is the making of magnolia. to say nothing of the fact PTA was also seeking to encounter that certain Pynchon of directors, maybe befriend him too.

the fact it emerged as such a memorable event highlights the specific focus he had put on Tom Cruise as a pivotal part of this film. Cruise is himself one of the most elusive big name actors around. and PTA made a huge effort to win him over. what's next.. Sandler is not so much inaccessible as he is hard to take seriously, he is arguably on the same celebrity status as Cruise which grants him special "outsider" status in society by virtue of being so rare, but i think the real elusive character he was hoping to befriend in PDL was Sean Penn who passed on the role of mattress man.

during this time we have come to learn that he also was trying to court Joaquin Phoenix in some unknown capacity. this dude is ALSO famous for being inaccessible. but i'm skipping ahead. after PDL he decides to go after this amazing actor who has all but retired into a farm somewhere save for indulging his wife in that one film of hers and helping his buddy Marty make some money. i'm talking about DDL of course. and the way i described in the primer that he talked to DDL is very similar to the kind of affection he showed for Sandler in that clip where they ate gummy bears that one time. PTA LOVES to befriend the outsiders in his world.

Downey Jr is no longer an outsider but he definitely has been, regardless of how much the teenagers making him rich these days are unaware of it. he spent years in the wildnerness. clearly he's well suited to the role of some pot smoking detective on the hunt for who knows what, some woman probably, but the real star of this film i think will be the phantom presence of the author. he's continuing to bring the outsider to light.

this is why PTA loves character actors so much, as far as to transform them into leads through sheer force of will. his early films are populated almost exclusively by actors who have no reason to believe they are the centre of the world. PDL was an interesting experiment because sandler was indeed that, but that's another topic, i'll just briefly say that was a perfect way to show someone who gets no respect in some circles playing someone who gets no respect in his familial circle finding his inner strength through a lifelong fan. With DDL and JoaqP he summoned the KINGS of the fringe (of sanity?). this is different to what Tarantino does when he shoehorns random forgotten actors into his films and revives their careers that should have in most cases stayed dead. he's a fanboy, nothing more.

what PTA is doing is much more sophisticated than what that hack does, PT is putting things in their proper place, showing us things as they were meant to be, actors in roles they were meant to play. not some stupid gimmick that only trash-loving neckbeards really care about. so read the book, read ALL of Pynchon's books.. they deserve to be read, and you have PTA's blessing.

TL;DR: Oil was a piece of shit that meant nothing to PTA and had barely anything to do with the final product. Inherent Vice the book is perhaps just another excuse to get to know a weirdo but at least he's consistently praising the text and the author. PTA is obviously a huge fan of Pynchon, this whole thing is an endorsement of his work and an attempt to make the definitive Pynchon adaptation.

do we have any Pynchon experts in the room? i mean, people who really know what they're talking about? the dude is not just any old author, he's like JD Salinger + Joseph Heller + William Gaddis or something, am i right? he's as good in his field as PTA is in his. Upton Sinclair was a prolific pulitzer prize winning hack compared to these guys.